Overdose Awareness Day offers opportunity for education, hope in Dougherty County

ALBANY — A weekend event ahead of Tuesday’s International Overdose Awareness Day was a chance to remember those lost to opiates and to spread the message that there is hope for recovery.

More than 60 participants braved the rain at the Veterans Park Ampitheater for the second Overdose Awareness Day event that included speakers sharing their experiences and a candlelight vigil.

The Georgia Department of Public Health also gave a demonstration on the use of the naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, and distributed doses of the medication that can revive individuals who have overdosed.

A spike in overdose cases involving opiates like prescription medications and fentanyl and street drugs like heroin has been ongoing and was exacerbated during the pandemic.

“I guess last year when we did this we didn’t realize it was going to be a annual thing, but I guess it is going to be,” said Katyryn Newcomb, program director at the Change Center, an addiction recovery center that operates through Aspire Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Services in Albany. “I think one of the things we concentrated on is that everybody deserves the opportunity to get well and where there is breath there is hope.”

Opioid addiction is not limited to any particular group and can affect anyone, she said.

“It’s not just on a certain side of town, it’s not a certain demographic,” Newcomb said. “It is widespread. It definitely does not discriminate on any of those things.”

The Change Center maintained full operations through the pandemic last year, and many of the services have been bolstered with a virtual or telephone option for those who were wary about getting out during the initial wave of COVID-19.

The center provided 19,000 services during 2020, Newcomb said.

“Even people who had not had mental health challenges have felt the lack of connection, their lives kind of being on hold, not having a group to talk to,” she said. “This year it’s been to coexist with COVID, to educate people on safety, how they can get the services and still feel safe. I think the beautiful thing is we haven’t turned anybody away, despite the circumstances.”

Since becoming public health analyst and opioid and substance misuse coordinator in Albany in January 2020, Phyliss Rolle said she has distributed more than 200 doses of Narcan through her work with the Georgia Department of Public Health in Albany.

On Saturday she distributed more than 50 doses, and during the current spike in COVID-19 she wants to help as many people have access to the life-saving mediation as possible.

“I know in the past we have seen a spike in our overdoses when there is a spike in COVD,” she said. “We and our partners want to make sure we get Narcan out in the community where it needs to be.”

Narcan is available at the 1710 S. Slappey St. Health Department each Wednesday from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. There is no cost, and no identification is required.

“We don’t ask any questions, other than we do ask for your zip code,” Newcomb said. “We do ask (that) you be 18 or over.”

Emergency medical personnel have noted a small increase in opioid overdoses during the current wave of COVID-19, said Sam Allen, director of Dougherty County Emergency Medical Services. In some instances paramedics are treating the same individuals multiple times.

“I may go to one on Monday and may go back to them Wednesday or Thursday,” Allen said.

Department personnel encourage patients at the scene to go to Phoebe Putney Memorial Center where they can be referred to recovery services. The potent synthetic opiate fentanyl is present in the community, and a patient can require several times the amount of Narcan contained in one eight-milligram nasal spray dose to revive.

“It’s to get that individual we’ve been to multiple times and they keep saying no (to treatment options) every time,” he said. “We say let us get you to the hospital, let us get you help. We encourage that person to go to the hospital and we can get you some treatment and help you get over this. That’s the point of view we offer.”

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